Interhouse Committee

The spirit of Rotation is to allow new students and Houses to arrive at
accurate representations of each other. No participant should unfairly
bias any new student for or against any House. Following this serves
the purpose of best matching new students with Houses.

II.
Preamble

The rotation system has evolved over the years as the best method to
distribute new students among the Houses. Each new student is given a
voice in selecting the House he or she will join, and the Houses have
some say in choosing their members. The motivation behind these rules
is the Honor Code. The intention is to prevent both the Houses and the
new students from taking unfair advantage of any other House or new
student. All undergraduates are responsible for understanding and
following these rules, and just as with the Honor Code, ignorance is
not an acceptable excuse for violating them.

III.
The Four Laws of Rotation

These Four Laws are meant to be the guiding principles of Rotation.
They are second in importance only to the Rotation Code, and the spirit
of Rotation embodied therein.

1. Upperclassmen may speak freely and truthfully about their
experiences in and opinions of their House(s). Upperclassmen may not
discuss stereotypes or rumors of any House except their own. Prefrosh
should not discuss house stereotypes or rumors with other prefrosh.

2. Upperclassmen may not provide special or extraordinary favors or
services to new students. This includes alcohol and other psychoactive
and controlled substances.

3. No upperclassman or new student should discuss rating strategies or
past or future student picks procedures.

4. Any remaining questions or concerns must be addressed by the IHC
(ihc@caltech.edu).

IV.
Examples and Clarifications

1. Rotation rules are in effect for any contact with new students from
the time they are a prospective applicant (including before they
matriculate) until all freshmen have submitted their rating lists (as
stipulated at 4:00 pm on Friday of Rotation week).

2. Informational media (posters, videos, propaganda sheets, social
calendars, etc), social events, and pranks that accurately reflect the
House and are approved by an IHC member in advance are all acceptable.

3. Alcohol and other controlled or psychoactive substances may under no
circumstances be given to prefrosh. Upperclassmen of legal drinking age
may drink otherwise as long as they are following Institute policy.

4. “Special or extraordinary favors” may include expensive (>$20)
gifts, long (>4 hours) off-campus trips, and setting up a prefrosh
on a date with another prefrosh. It is up to the judgement of the IHC
what constitutes “special or extraordinary”, and the examples above are
just guidelines.

5. A student who attends a dinner, dessert, or reception for a House of
which they are not a member without permission of the House’s president
is not representing that House accurately, and thus likely in violation
of the spirit of Rotation. Likewise, alumni should speak with the
President of their House before attending dinner or events.

6. Discussion of future and past events should focus on portraying the
House accurately. It is unlikely that events that happened 10 years
ago, and not since, are accurate depictions of the current House
environment, and outlandish promises of future events like yacht
rentals are likewise inaccurate.

7. Students may describe the noise level, alcohol use, and social
atmosphere of their House as long as it is reflective of their
experience in the House.

8. Students should consult an IHC member before speaking about a House
of which they are not a member.

9. These guidelines are not exhaustive. It is up to the judgment of the
students to determine whether they are providing accurate information
to the Prefrosh. The IHC will prosecute Rotation Violations by
following the Four Laws, the Rotation Code, and the Honor Code.
Possible penalties for Rotation Violations include probation, loss of
right to House rating (for Prefrosh), loss of picks (for Houses),
temporary PNG status from the House for the duration of Rotation (for
individuals), or any other punishment handed down by the IHC.

V.
Procedures

1. Rotation week begins on the Wednesday prior to the first week of the
term and ends after the first Friday of the term.

2. Throughout the course of Rotation week, new students will remain in
residence at a randomly determined temporary room assignment in one of
the Houses.

3. For the week of Rotation, each new student visits a different House
for dinner in a randomly determined order. New students also visit the
Houses for dessert.

4. Any new student who does not attend dinner or does not check in with
the House President will be defined as a "no-show" for that house and
should talk to the IHC Chair or Secretary immediately (at the risk of
being considered to have ranked all eight Houses equally). Similarly,
if a new student knows that he or she absolutely cannot attend a
particular dinner or dessert, he or she should talk to the IHC Chair or
Secretary as far ahead of time as possible.

5. All new students must rate all eight of the Houses and submit a list
of those preferences to the Resident Associate (RA) of the House in
which they are residing. New students will rate all eight Houses on an
integer scale from 1 (this House is a good fit) to 20 (this House is a
bad fit). No student may assign the same rating number to multiple
Houses. This information will be given to each House President and
shall be made available only to the House Rotation chairmen, only after
all changes are finalized. The Houses are not required to follow the
ratings submitted by each student. Students living outside of the eight
Houses must submit ratings to the RA of the House which they visit for
dinner on the final Wednesday of Rotation week. Exceptional
circumstances will be taken into consideration by the IHC, and in
extreme circumstances, new students who state to the Senior Director of
Student Activities and Programs or the Master of Student Houses that
they do not wish to participate in Rotation will not be selected by any
House, but such new students will still be given Institute housing.

6. On the final Friday of Rotation week, the RA of each House will
provide rating sheets to all of the new students dining at their House
that day. From 12:00 to 2:00 PM, the RA will be available at a place
made known to the new students. During that time, the new students must
give their ratings to the RA. The RA will enter the student's ratings
and then confirm them with the student before submitting them. At 2:00
PM, the IHC will compile the list and check to ensure that all ratings
have been submitted. Every effort possible will be made to obtain any
missing ratings. Only the IHC will have access to the list until it is
finalized. After the list is complete, the IHC Chairman will declare
the list finalized, and at that time, the House Presidents may disclose
the results to their House Rotation Chairmen.

7. Selection of new students will take place at a closed meeting of the
Interhouse Committee Chairman and Secretary, the eight House
Presidents, up to four Rotation Chairmen from each House, the Senior
Director of Student Activities and Programs, and the Master of Student
Houses. This meeting will occur on the Saturday immediately following
Rotation week. All information relating to this meeting will not be
made public. Following the meeting, the Houses will immediately destroy
all their electronic or written information relating to the meeting.

Date

Wed. 9/23

Thu. 9/24

Fri. 9/25

Sat. 9/26

Sun. 9/27

Mon. 9/28

Tue. 9/29

Wed. 9/30

Thu. 10/1

Lunch

D

F

Dinner

A

B

C

E

G

H

Free Dinner

Free Dinner

Dessert

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Avery

Blacker

Dabney

Fleming

Lloyd

Page

Ricketts

Ruddock

Wed 9/23

Dinner A

5:30pm

5:30pm

6:00pm

6:15pm

5:45pm

6:15pm

5:30pm

6:00pm

Thu 9/24

Dinner B

5:30pm

5:30pm

5:45pm

6:15pm

5:45pm

6:15pm

5:15pm

6:00pm

Fri 9/25

Dinner C

5:30pm

5:30pm

6:00pm

6:15pm

5:45pm

6:15pm

5:30pm

6:00pm

Sat 9/26

Linner D

11:00am

11:05am

11:10am

11:15am

11:00am

11:10am

11:00am

11:05am

Sat 9/26

Dinner E

5:30pm

5:30pm

5:45pm

6:15pm

5:45pm

6:15pm

5:15pm

6:00pm

Sun 9/27

Linner F

10:30am

10:35am

10:40am

10:45am

10:30am

10:40am

10:30am

10:35am

Mon 9/28

Dinner G

5:30pm

5:30pm

5:45pm

6:15pm

5:45pm

6:15pm

5:15pm

6:00pm

Tue 9/29

Dinner H

5:30pm

5:30pm

5:45pm

6:15pm

5:45pm

6:15pm

5:15pm

6:00pm

Wed 9/30

Free Dinner

5:30pm

6:05pm

6:15pm

6:45pm

6:15pm

6:45pm

5:50pm

6:30pm

Thu 10/1

Free Dinner

5:30pm

6:05pm

6:15pm

6:45pm

6:15pm

6:45pm

5:50pm

6:30pm

Note: The times listed above indicate the start of the reception at
each house. Food will be served 30 minutes after the times listed.For the free dinners on Wednesday and Thursday, there will be no receptions, and dinner will begin at the times listed.